Meter setter



j July 11, 1939. L. D 2,165,626

METER SETT'ER Filed Jan. 2'7, 1937 IN VENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 11', 1939 UNITED STATES METER. sn'r'ma John L. Ford. Wabash, Ind., minor to Ford Meter Box Company, Wabash, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application January 21, 1937, Serial No.122,534

3 Claims.

The present application relates to meter setters, and more particularly to devices for setting water meters above, or otherwise out of the line of, service mains; but it is to be noted that,

although the invention is illustrated and described in association with a water meter, it may be used for positioning any fixture, having inlet and outlet, and adapted to be connected into a fluid line.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved organization of the general type illustrated and claimed in my prior Patent No. 1,988,003, issued-January 15, 1935. Among the functions of the device of the present application, as compared with those of the device of my abovementioned patent, are'the simplification of the problems of manufacture and the problems of installation, the material reduction of manufacturing cost, and the elimination of an installa- 20 tion defect of the device of my above-mentioned prior patent. Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

Tothe accomplishment of the above and related objectamy invention may be embodied in 26 the form illustrated in the accompanying drawing, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawing is illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope 30 of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a meter positioned by an embodiment of the present invention:

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the organization of Fig. 1;

86 Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken substantially on the line 3-4 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows:

Fig. 4 is a further enlarged fragmental section taken in the plane of Fig. 3;

40 Fig. 5 is a vertical section through one end of one conduit of the organization of the present application: and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section through the other end oi said conduit.

iii Referring more particularly to the drawing, it will. be seen that I have illustrated a meter Iii provided with spuds or pipe ends ii and I 2 constituting the inlet and outlet thereof. As is illustrated in Fig. '5, the extremity of each of the 50 spuds is threaded, as at it. a

A. conduit l4, preferablyformed of malleable copper, is flanged at one end, as at it. for cooperation with the extremity of the spud Ii; and adjacent that end, saidconduit isrbent or curved 65 as at it. A union element i1 is sleeved upon the conduit end It and is adapted to be threaded onto the extremity iii of the spud ii to provide a communicating connection between said conduit and said spud. A sealing washer 49 may or may not be used between the flange i5 andthe end of the 5 spud ii. i

As is clearly to be seen in Fig. 5, the internal diameter of the union element I1 is somewhat greater than the external diameter of the conduit it. Since the conduit it is substantially vertically positioned, it will readilybe seen that, in the absence of means to prevent it, the union element i! would be very likely to slide down the conduit approximately to the point 33, when released from the spud i i. In order to prevent such an occurrence, 1 wraparound the curved portion it of the conduit It a short coil of wire, as at it; the diameter of said. wire being at least greater than one half the diflerence between the external diameter of the conduit i4 and theinternal diameter of the union element I'I, said 1 wire having a frictional engagement with the conduit to prevent movement of the wire the conduit. 7 v

Below the curved portion it, the conduit is formed with a portion l9 disposed at an acute angle to the axis of. the body portion 20 of the .conduit it. At its lower end, the body portion 20, merges, through a curved portion 2 I with the opposite end portion of the conduit I 4.

A union element 28 having a rearwardly extending bearing sleeve, is mounted upon the lower. end portion of the conduit ll. As is clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6, the internal diameter of the sleeve of the union element 23 is considerably larger than the external diameter of the conduit l4; and, beyond the point 22, that portion of the conduit end which is normally received within the sleeve of the union element 23 is expanded to an external diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of said union element sleeve.

01' course, it is desirable that the union element should fit snugly about the conduit end upon which it is mounted, in order that said union element may be guided into proper threaded association with the coupling with which it is to be associated. On the other-hand, if the conduit end were of uniform diameter, the degree of movement away from the extremity of the conduit end toward the body portion, possible to the union element would be very'slight, since it will be noted that the union element is positioned closely adjacent the curved portion 2| of the conduit. The provision of a union element of larger along 5. threaded. Obviously, the parts 34 and 39 may be internal diameter, however, permits a greater degree of movement of the union element toward the body portion of the conduit; while the expansion of that section of the end portion normally within the union element sleeve provides the desired guiding bearing for the union element.

Associated with the conduit I4 is a second conduit 24'which, as will be readily perceived from an inspection of Fig. 1, is identical in shape with the conduit l4, but is oppositely positioned with respect thereto. Adjacent its upper end, the conduit 24 is curved as at 25, and the upper extremity of the conduit 24 carries a union element 26 which is prevented from displacement down the length of the conduit by a ring 21 similar to the ring I8. The intermediate portion 23 of the conduit leads from thecurved portion 25 to the body portion 29, which body portion merges, at its lower end, through a curved portion 30, with the opposite end portion of the conduit 24.

A union element 32, identical with the element 23, and having a rearwardly extending bearing sleeve, is mounted upon the lower end portion of the conduit 24 which, as is indicated at 3|, is expanded to fitthe internal diameter of the element 32.

As will readilyb perceived from a considera tion of Fig. l, the two body portions 20 and 29 of the respective conduits I4 and 24 are mounted in registering parallelism, and are held in that relation by a connector indicated generally by the reference numeral 33. If desired, a coupling34, having a threaded end"35, may be connected to the conduit H by the union element 23; and preferably, the extremity of the element 34 will be part spherical, as at 36, for cooperation with the part spherical flared'end 31 of the conduit Hi.

The opposite end of the coupling 34 may be threaded as at 38 for association with any desired element.

A coupling 39,-likewlse having a threaded end 40, may be connected to the end of the conduit 24 through the medium of the union element 32; the opposite end of coupling 33 being internally interchanged, or either type of coupling may be used in association with both conduits l4 and 24;

or either or both of the conduits and 24 may be directly connected to a supply main without the interposition of any such coupling.

In Figs. 3 and 4, I have shown the details of construction of the connector 33. As is clearly shown therein, said connector comprises a pair of allochiral brass castings 4| and 42. The casting 4| is formed with two semi-cylindrical sockets 43 and 44 which, when the two castings 4| and 42 are mated, cooperate with similar semi-cylindrical sockets45 and 46 in the casting 42 to form two cylindrical receptacles snugly receiving the body portions 20 and 29 of the conduits l4 and 24. To connect the two castings 4| and 42 rigidly together and to the conduit. body portions, molten solder is poured into the very small clearances between the castings 4| and 42 and the body portions 20'and 29 of the conduits l4 and 24, in the manner illustrated in the enlarged view of Fig. 4. Thereby, an extremely thin film (somewhat exaggerated vin the drawing) of solder is interposed as at 41 between the socket faces and the conduit portions embraced thereby; and a similarly thin film of solder is interposed, as at 48, between mating faces of the castings 4| and 42.

It will be seen that, in the organization illustrated in the present application, each of the conduits l4 and 24 is anchored, at the upper end of its body portion, to the other conduit. As a re-- sult, there is a certain amount of flexibility or resiliency in the length of conduit between the connector 33 and either end of either conduit which may, if necessary, be utilized in connecting the conduits in a line or to a fixture. Because of the disclosed arrangement, for instance, the lower end of either of the conduits may be subjected to distorting forces, and will be free to respond to such forces without affecting the opposite end of that conduit, or either end of the associated conduit. This result flows from the posed pipes secured thereto, of a connector-support therefor comprising a pair of conduits, each conduit comprising a body portion and being formed at one end for communicating association with one of said pipes and at its opposite end for communicating association with another pipe, rigid means rigidly connected to both of said conduits intermediate the ends thereof to position the body portions thereof against relative axial movement, while leaving each end of each of said conduits free to. respond to distorting forces without affecting the other end thereof or the other conduit, and means for securing each end of each conduit to a pipe.

2. In a device of the class described, a substantially vertical conduit having its upper end portion bent into a substantially horizontal position, a union element sleeved on said upper end and having an internal diameter, throughout its length, greater than the external diameter of said conduit, and a short coil of wire wrapped about the bent portion of said conduit, having frictional contact therewith.

3. In a device of the class described, a substantially vertical conduit having its upper end portion bent into a substantially horizontal position, a union element sleeved on said upper end and having an internal diameter, throughout its length, greater than the external diameter of said conduit, and a short coil ofwire wrapped JOHN L. FORD. 

